Ukraine

I have been to Ukraine twice in the past four years - in January 2010 and in October 2012.

None of what has gone on there over the past few months, is my fault. I was on my best behavior - for me - and I left the country more-or-less as I had found it in each instance.

Ukraine - and that is its preferred name, not The Ukraine - is basically divided into two parts: The west, that as you might expect is European-facing, and the east, that feels closer in distance and culture to Russia.

As an example, most people in the west speak Ukrainian. Most in the eastern sector speak Russian as their first language. In the center of the county (that includes Kiev), a huge majority are bi-lingual and it is not unusual for one person to speak Russian while the other speaks Ukraine - in the same conversation.

To my untrained ear, Russian and Ukrainian sound the same but that is also the case with Chinese and Japanese, and other closely paired languages that are not named "English."

I was an Official International Election Observer during both of those two trips. The earlier one was to help observe (as opposed to "oversee") the election that propelled Viktor Yanukovych to the Presidency.

In that election, I was sent to the second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv; a gray, industrial city that screams "Stalin" and, in fact, had the largest existing statue of Lenin still in its city square.

Along with my team members we decided to drive from Central Kharkiv to the Russian border then work our way back, stopping in at village polling stations, then suburban stations, along the way and ending up back in Kharkiv to watch the counting at a major poll in a mid-town school.

There is a mini-travelogue about that visit to the Russian border that is worthwhile reading on the Secret Decoder Ring page today.

This is Ukraine. There was no heat in that school and by 9 PM it was getting very cold. All of the volunteers and officials were bundled up in heavy coats and scarves, but they couldn't, for obvious reasons, wear gloves.

I had brought a couple of dozen chemical hand warmers and I asked our translator to ask the woman in charge of the polling place if I could donate them to the people in the room.

The woman said "Da" and our translator carried the hand warmers to the wide square of volunteers seated around the pushed-together tables.

The concept was explained to them and they each took one - and carefully put it in a purse or a pocket.

Misc.

Mobile

About Townhall.com

Townhall.com is the leading source for conservative news and political commentary and analysis.

Townhall is packed with breaking news headlines, political news, and conservative opinion with Townhall columnists including Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Michael Barone, Star Parker, Dennis Prager, Thomas Sowell, and many more of your favorite conservatives.
Political cartoons full of satire and political humor from editorial cartoonists including Michael Ramirez, Glenn McCoy, and Henry Payne.

Townhall.com also features the latest news videos and pictures on the latest political hot topics including health care reform, the economy, immigration, government tax, President Obama, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Iraq, immigration, politics, gay marriage laws, and many more big news issues.